polls

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Former Tennessee Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen holds a 10-percentage-point lead over Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn among state voters in a head-to-head contest for the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, according to the latest MTSU Poll.

Apparent voter favorites in the race for governor, meanwhile, include Republicans Randy Boyd, Diane Black and Beth Harwell as well as Democrat Karl Dean, and approval of President Donald Trump stands at 50 percent, unchanged from last October’s MTSU Poll.

A poll conducted this month and commissioned by a health care advocacy group finds Tennessee voters Democrat Phil Bredesen favored over Republican Marsha Blackburn by five points, 46 percent to 41 percent. It also reports 47 percent believe the Affordable Care Act should remain in place while 42 percent want the measure, better known as Obamacare, repealed.

Rival gubernatorial campaigns scoffed this week when Republican Bill Lee declared “we can win” in a speech to supporters at his headquarters launch. A new Lee poll obtained by The Tennessee Journal appears to lend that statement at least some credence.

The poll shows the Franklin businessman in a “strong third place” behind Randy Boyd and Diane Black, with Beth Harwell lagging far behind.

A poll of likely Tennessee Republican primary voters, commissioned by the Senate Conservatives Fund, found 64 percent want Bob Corker to retire from the U.S. Senate while 24 percent said he should run for reelection with 12 percent undecided, according to Breitbart News.

The poll also found that Blackburn – who has been endorsed by SCF – would be strongly favored to defeat Corker and U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher a hypothetical three-way Republican U.S. Senate The results: 49 percent for Blackburn, 26 percent for Corker and 9 percent for Fincher.

Politico reports that a late January poll had Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen leading Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn 47% to 45% in a head-to-head matchup in the Tennessee Senate race.

The poll conducted by Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies indicates that a generic Republican would be preferred over a Democrat, and that President Donald Trump retains a strong approval rating. The takeaway, Politico says, is that “Blackburn is in for a tough race” even in a heavily Republican state like Tennessee.

Former state Sen. Mae Beavers and Williamson County businessman Bill Lee would face closer general election races as the Republican nominee for governor against Democrat Karl Dean, a former Nashville mayor, than three other contenders for the GOP nomination, according to a poll commissioned by Tennessee Star.

Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn leads former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen 50.7 percent to 39.7 percent in a recent poll commissioned by Tennessee Star of prospective voters in hypothetical matchup for the general U.S. Senate election. The poll also found that Bredesen has a lead – 41.5 percent to 38.2 percent – in a match with former Republican Rep. Stephen Fincher as the GOP nominee.

A poll commissioned by Club for Growth PAC, which has endorsed U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, finds her leading former Rep. Stephen Fincher 66 percent to 13 percent among likely GOP primary voters with 21 percent undecided. The group also did a poll matching Blackburn against retiring Sen. Bob Corker and reported her leading the incumbent 63 percent to 25 percent.

A poll commissioned by a pro-Trump super PAC found that Republican Marsha Blackburn is ahead of Democrat Phil Bredesen in a potential 2018 general election for a Tennessee U.S. Senate seat, reports the Hill, while a survey sponsored by a Democrat-supporting organization found Bredesen ahead.

A majority of Republican voters are undecided about who to support in the 2018 governor’s race, but of those willing to give a pollster a preference, U.S. Rep. Diane Black apparently holds the lead with former Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd running second.

Black’s margin over Boyd is five points bigger in the Tennessee Star poll than in the Tennesseans For Student Success polls.